This Blog's purpose is to offer information about congregations voting to leave the ELCA. Pastor Barnhart's other Blog offers information about current news events relating to the Church and the nation. It may be found here: http://livinginthetimes.blogspot.com/

The following list of churches that have taken their first and/or second votes since August 2009 represent a potential net loss of 208,756 baptized members. Add to that number thousands who left to begin new Lutheran congregations and still thousands more who have left on their own, and the figures are staggering. The ELCA has announced it is laying off some 60 employees; several synods have also had to let employees go.

The list of congregations that have scheduled votes to leave the ELCA this year and next is growing. We have posted 20 churches that are voting on Reformation Sunday, October 31.

Please note also, that missing from our list are at least 50 congregations that have voted, but we do not have the information at this time.

AALC - The American Association of Lutheran Churches;AFLC - Association of Free Lutheran Congregations;CLB - Church of the Lutheran BrethrenELCM - Evangelical Lutheran Conference and Ministerium;FELC- Fellowship of Evangelical Lutheran ChurchesLCI - Lutheran Church-InternationalLCMC - Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ;LC-MS Lutheran Church Missouri Synod;NALC - North American Lutheran Church

Churches that have successfully taken first and/or second votes to leave the ELCA since August 2009 are:

Saturday, October 23, 2010

When Mary Magdalene went to the tomb of Jesus that first resurrection morning, she encountered two angels who asked her: “Woman, why are you weeping?” Mary responded, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him” (John 20:13). That is exactly the way I feel as I observe what is or is not being taught today in so many churches regarding the true gospel of Jesus Christ.

Paul defined the gospel as the salvation Christ obtained for us through His life, death and resurrection. God offers us this blood-bought salvation as a free gift, without any merit or works on our part. Salvation is offered to us by grace through faith, plus nothing.

Today, liberal church leaders have decided the teaching of the Bible regarding salvation is no longer acceptable, especially teachings about “the atonement” or “the blood.” Instead, they say, the gospel must be given a new interpretation in keeping with our enlightened culture, wherein peace and social justice are the ultimate goal.

In the September 2008 issue of The Lutheran, published by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Steven Marsh, assistant to the bishop of the Southeast Michigan Synod, distorted the gospel when he defined Christ’s resurrection as an “issue of justice.” His interpretation of Christ’s death and resurrection are straight from the handbook on Liberation Theology. Marsh wrote: “If justice is faithfulness to the values of the kingdom of God—values that would have everyone living in harmony, equality and peace—then the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth was and is an issue of justice.” Marsh goes on to say, “Right relationship is justice, and we can be publicly resurrected to right relationship with each passing moment. That makes resurrection not just an issue of justice but an issue of public justice.”

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America members and all Bible-believing Christians should be outraged that the gospel of Christ is being so perverted. This perversion of the gospel is being taught in most mainline denominations and by the emergent church movement. Sadly, it is even being taught in portions of the evangelical church as well.

Paul could not have been more clear when he stated: “But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed” (Gal. 1:8). And then to reinforce the seriousness of this departure from truth, Paul stated again, “if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed” (Gal. 1:9). Let there be no mistake, those who pervert the divinely revealed gospel of Christ will answer to God.

The tragedy of this perversion of truth is found in the millions of lost souls who enter their churches Sunday after Sunday and never hear the clear call of the gospel to repent of their sin and be saved. Jesus did not tell His Church to go into the world and preach “peace and social justice,” rather He commanded us to go into all the world and proclaim the gospel of salvation.Peace, justice and other noble aspirations are not the essence of the gospel. These things, important as they are, will come to fruition only when unregenerate hearts are converted to Christ. Christ did not die to bring about social justice; He died to deliver all who will believe in Him from eternal death to eternal life! He died to restore us to a right relationship with God. It is only as salvation is received by faith that we are enabled to live in a right relationship with God and with our fellowmen.

NEGLECT OF THE GOSPEL BY EVANGELICALSWhile I am saddened to see the gospel of Christ being perverted in liberal and emergent churches, I am equally saddened to see it being neglected in evangelical churches. Over the past several years, I have sat under the preaching of numerous pastors who, though holding to a high view of Scripture, chose to substitute the authentic proclamation of the gospel for sermons that could have been delivered by a Unitarian or a psychologist. Such sermons rarely mention sin, the need of repentance or God’s plan of salvation.

While it is appropriate to offer biblically based instruction designed to help Christians mature in various areas of their lives, Sunday morning is no time to get off task. It is wrong to set aside the preaching of the gospel to accomplish these secondary matters. On any given Sunday, most churches are filled with people who are not saved. They don’t need a message on social justice or “How to Have a Happy Marriage,” or “Principles to Prosperity,” they need to be led to the cross through the proclamation of the Word of God.

Whether the authentic gospel of Christ is being changed or challenged by liberals, redesigned and repackaged by emergent church leaders, or neglected by evangelical pastors, the result is the same—the lost remain lost, without help or hope!

In light of the Lord’s soon return, we pastors are urged to resist the temptation to preach what people want to hear, and instead tell them what they must know in order to have eternal life. As Paul said, “Preach the Word in season and out of season” (2 Tim. 4:1-3). Tell them of Jesus and His great sacrifice on the cross to redeem them from sin and death. The proclamation of the true gospel of Christ never grows old or fails to yield eternal results.

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Truth is timeless! Neither God nor His Word are subject to change. “Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven” (Psalm 119:89). “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth” (John 17:17). Yet, we are being told today by preachers and politicians that we must change with the times and not be so unyielding in our positions regarding correct doctrine and morality. Such advice is a slippery slope to hell. In this critical hour, it is imperative that each Christian examines his or her heart in light of the Scriptures to determine exactly what God has spoken and what He expects from us in terms of faith and obedience.

In 1521 Martin Luther stood trembling before Emperor Charles V and prelates of the Roman Church at the Diet of Worms. He had been summoned on charges that he was a heretic. Luther knew that by going to Worms, he risked being burned at the stake for his writings and teachings. Even so, Luther stood his ground when confronted with a demand that he recant what he had written. “Unless I am convicted by Scripture and plain reason—I do not accept the authority of popes and councils, for they have contradicted one another— my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. God help me. Here I stand.”

THE FOLLY OF THE ELCA’S ‘BOUND CONSCIENCE’ DECEPTIONVast portions of the church no longer look to God’s Word for guidance on moral issues, but instead look to self-acclaimed experts whose vocabulary does not include the word “sin.” The authoritative declaration “Thus says the Lord” is being replaced in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America with the self-serving expression— “My conscience is bound to what I personally believe.”

At their 2009 Churchwide Assembly, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) used Luther’s words at Worms to justify a twisted concept of a “bound conscience,” regarding the ordination of practicing homosexuals. Their carefully orchestrated plan called upon members of the ELCA to respect one another’s conflicting opinions on this issue based on the principle of a “bound conscience.” What a perversion of truth! One is reminded of Israel’s rebellion when “everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25).

Luther’s conscience was not bound by his own reasoning, or the norms of his culture, or by the teachings of the Roman Church. Luther’s conscience was captive to the Word of God. What you and I believe about anything has no validity if our beliefs are contradicted by the teachings of the Bible. Scripture alone must be the only basis of rightly judging all matters of faith and practice.

The ELCA’s concept of a “bound conscience” is certainly not being applied to congregations wanting to exit the denomination but whose property is being held hostage by the leaders of their respective synods. Their “bound conscience” concept is not being honored when ELCA pastors are censured and otherwise persecuted for speaking out against the ELCA’s acceptance of homosexual perversions, or when they seek to lead their congregations to withdraw from the ELCA.

CONSCIENCE MUST BE WASHED IN THE BLOODAccording to Scripture, the unregenerate conscience is incapable of rendering a right or reliable judgment about anything. Like the soul of man, the conscience also must be born again! Paul writes that in the last days people will “fall away from the faith,” because they follow “deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons from those whose consciences had been seared as with a branding iron” (1 Timothy 4:1-2).

Each of us—body, soul, mind, conscience and spirit—must be washed in the blood of the Lamb! The only solution for a sin-impaired conscience is salvation in Jesus Christ. God’s Word instructs us: “Let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful” (Hebrews 10:22-23). Scripture further declares: “How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Hebrews 9:14).

We have added to our list the chosen Lutheran Affiliation for congregations that have voted out of the ELCA. This is a work in progress. Several congregations hold membership in more than one Lutheran body, but we have room for only one.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

According to David Swartling, secretary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, 544 congregations have taken first vote to leave the denomination through October 1, 2010. Of that number 395 passed their first vote; 181 failed. Of the 395 congregations that passed their first vote, 258 have successfully passed their second vote; 16 failed in second attempt. Thus far 204 congregations have been officially removed from ELCA roles, representing a net loss to the ELCA of 112,818 members.

(Swartling reported that a total of 576 first votes had been taken because some congregations took more than one first vote.)

Editor's Note: If you count all the congregations that have successfully taken their first vote and are waiting to take their second vote, then add those who successfully have taken their second votes to leave the ELCA since August 2009, it represents a net loss to the ELCA of over 200,000 members. This figure is based on the congregations recorded on our list and posted on this site. The 200,000 figure does not include ELCA members who have left on their own,, those ELCA members who have left to establish new congregations, or the members of 50+ congregations not yet included on our list because we have yet to identify them.

An ELCA College, Gustavus Aldolphus College in St. Peter Minnesota, offers special instruction to freshmen for having sex of all kinds and etiquette when having sex in the dorm--put hat on door!

Congregations looking for another reason to get out of the ELCA need to read this article and listen to the videos. This is how your benevolence dollars are being used.

Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minn., proclaims on its website that it is "a church-related, residential liberal arts college firmly rooted in its Swedish and Lutheran heritage" and its core values are excellence, community, justice, service and faith.

But one senior is wondering just where in those values he can fit a presentation to incoming freshmen that introduces them to the etiquette of having sex in dorm rooms without being interrupted by roommates and a "lesbian" who proclaims, "I like sex. No, I love sex" and tells students, "I am normal."

About Me

David Barnhart received a Bachelor’s degree in education from Clarion State University, Clarion, Pa., and a Masters of Divinity degree from the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, Columbia, SC. Ordained by the Lutheran Church in America in 1964, he pastored churches in that denomination for 20 years. In 1984, Pastor Barnhart withdrew from the Lutheran Church in America and united with the Association of Free Lutheran Congregations (AFLC). He establish Abiding Word Ministries (AWM) in that same year. Abiding Word Ministries, now in its 27th year, exists to promote revival and reformation throughout the Church. Pastor Barnhart publishes a newsletter called The Vine and Branches which is mailed to approximately 7500 homes throughout the United States and Canada. AWM counsels pastors, congregations and laity who desire to take their stand against false teachings and unbiblical practices within their church bodies.